In the medical equipment industry, a respiration support circuit is known comprising a conduit along which a stream of ventilation gas flows; and a cup-shaped receptacle extending at least partly inside the conduit to support a sensor, and designed to separate the sensor from the gas stream in the conduit, so that the sensor can be re-used for another patient without being cleaned, disinfected or sterilized.
Known medical respiration support circuits of the type described above have various drawbacks, mainly due to the receptacle only being designed to house temperature sensors, i.e., sensors whose operation does not depend on direct contact with the gas stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,796 discloses a receptacle insertable in a gas stream and housing at least one sensor for controlling at least one physical/chemical parameter of the gas stream. The receptacle comprises at least one boundary wall, which defines the receptacle itself, and which is defined at least partly by a filtering element permeable solely to the gaseous phase of the gas stream.
EP 1 205 747 A2 discloses a receptacle insertable in a gas stream and housing at least one sensor for controlling at least one physical/chemical parameter of the gas stream. The receptacle comprises at least one boundary wall, which defines the receptacle itself, and which is defined at least partly by a filtering element permeable solely to the gaseous phase of the gas stream.